CHARLES MANSON AS THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN

"If you ever decide to leave, I'll take you and hang you upside down, and slit your throat, and use you as an example for everybody else."

- Charles Manson to Susan Atkins

Author Jean Stafford won the O. Henry Award for a short story in 1955, and a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1970 for her collection of short stories. That same year she penned a non-fiction piece for McCALL'S for their special "Occult Explosion" issue (see last Friday's WOM post). Her eruditely-written article was not on Astrology, the Tarot, ESP or any of the other mystical topics of the day -- it was on Charles Manson and the Tate/LaBianca Murders and its "demonic" influence on society.

The perpetrators had been arrested and imprisoned and there were enough facts about Manson and his followers to allow a fair assessment of the cult's infrastructure and the personality types that were seduced into the inner circle.

One of the more interesting threads that Stafford discusses is the analogy between Manson and "The Old Man of the Mountain", the Shiek-al-Jabal that ruled the infamous assassins. The comparison is uncanny.

THE 70'S OCCULT EXPLOSION

BY THE CLOSE OF THE 1960'S. the occult in all its forms -- Astrology, ESP, Tarot, Magic(k), etc., had established itself in the firmament of popular culture. What had begun as an interest in alternative forms of philosophy and spirituality nurtured and sustained in large part by the psychedelic experience and prevailing drug culture had not unexpectedly evolved into commercialism. Occult shops, mystics, seers, prophesiers and hacks had popped up like magic mushrooms across the US, the UK and other parts of the world that had embraced the hip culture.

This collection of articles from the March 1970 issue of McCALL'S are a testament to how far the occult had come and what it had grown into. From seances to star-gazing, these topics are covered within the context of their contemporary relevance (another well-worn 60's word!). Key here is Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s survey of Madame Blavatsky, who was largely responsible for bringing metaphysics and mysticism into the modern age.

McCALL'S MONSTERS

Discovered in and amongst my voluminous clippings and other ephemera moldering away here in the basement of the Mysterious Mansion, I came across something unimaginably horrible -- a woman's magazine!

This issue of McCALL'S , a popular magazine from March 1970 was a special occult and metaphysical issue, the subject matter fitting right in as trendy with the times. Included in the "Sight & Sound" column was a piece on monster movies and their enduring popularity.

As was usual with the "straight" magazines, the article was written with a touch of tongue-in-cheek which wavered on ridicule. Also included in the column was a discussion of the then-popular Astrology LP's that were appearing in record stores like magic mushrooms and an occult primer that lists a number of books on Astrology, Tarot, I Ching and other similar subjects to get a housewife started on building her own, groovy suburban occult library.

McCALL'S was a popular women's magazine that began as THE QUEEN in 1873. Circulation was at its highest in the 1960's. The editor for the article from the issue shown today was Shana Alexander, the journalist who later became famous for her role in the "Point-Counterpoint" segment on 60 MINUTES. Alexander explained, although she accepted the appointment, she had no experience in magazine editing. She threw in the apron in 1971. Following in Alexander's footsteps was comedienne/activist Rosie O'Donnell, who became editor of the magazine in 2000. O'Donnell declared, "I wanted a magazine that celebrates real women, that understands that they care about more than waistlines or the latest makeup styles or fashions, that they want to be relevant and help each other and care about the world." Consequently, she renamed the magazine, ROSIE, and systematically gutted the periodical in her image. Not surprisingly, the title folded the next year.

MONDAY MORNING MACABRE NO. 61

[SOURCE: McCall's March 1970.]